Freddie Mac names housing panel chief.

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said it named housing leader James W. Rouse to head a newly created advisory committee on lower-income housing issues.

The 13-member panel will "evaluate the effectiveness of Freddie Mac's affordable-housing programs" and develop new plans, said Leland C. Brendsel, the agency's chairman.

Freddie Mac and its chief rival, the Federal National Mortgage Association, are under intense pressure from Congress to step up their support of loans for lower-income housing.

Mr. Rouse is the retired founder of the Rouse Company, a major real estate developer. In 1982, he and his wife, Patty, launched the Enterprise Foundation to help nonprofit housing groups. In 1987, he was named chairman of a task force that made housing proposals to Congress.